Remember the Republican mantra that government is bad? It seems that it’s only bad if they’re not controlling it! Oklahoma may be the first state to actually gain the governmental control the party evidently so desperately wants.
Newly-elected Governor Mary Fallin may soon be allowed to hire and fire state board and commission members at any time, at will (HB 1208).
The state’s Board of Education is targeted as one of the first to be included. Ms Fallin may also change the board’s makeup from private citizens, as it was previously, to include the governor herself and three statewide officials—two of whom would be appointed by the governor (via SB 435). So, the “new” Board of Education would be run by the governor, with two members of the board appointed by her. Guess what direction that board would take.
Previously elected positions of state superintendent, treasurer, insurance commissioner and labor commissioner would no longer exist. Instead, the governor would appoint those officers (SB 622). It doesn’t matter what the people want—they now have a governor who will micro-manage all facets of state government.
Currently, the Judicial Nominating Commission presents the governor with three acceptable names for judicial appointments. The governor then selects one from those submitted. The state’s Judicial Nominating Commission consists of 13 members. Six are appointed by the governor, six are selected by the Oklahoma Bar Association, and the final member is selected at large by the other twelve. None of the gubernatorial appointees can be a licensed attorney in Oklahoma, and each must come from a different Congressional District. Two more at-large members were recently added—one appointed by the Speaker of the Oklahoma House and the other by the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate.
SB 641 would add Senate confirmation to the above requirements, if the voters agree.
Under Senate Joint Resolution 36, though, the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission would no longer exist and the governor would have free reign to fill judicial openings as he/she sees fit, subject to Senate confirmation only.
This reeks of a dictatorship under the guise of ensuring that elected officials, especially the governor, are effective, according to Republican spokespersons.
When did Oklahomans vote to hand the governor all-inclusive dictatorial powers? That certainly wasn’t part of the last election’s discussions!
What happened to division of power? There are two possibilities: 1) Republicans don’t know there’s a reason our government has three branches or 2) Republicans simply do not care.
Either option is unacceptable and should not be allowed now, or at any time in the future.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
PRO-LIFE? CALL IT WHAT YOU REALLY MEAN!
The correct term for what you really want is “Pro-BIRTH.”
Pro-life is a worthy goal, but life only begins at birth. If you’re truly “pro-LIFE” you would not strip funding for WIC. WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.
If you were truly “pro-LIFE” you would not destroy funding for Title X programs. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services. The Title X program is designed to provide access to contraceptive services, supplies and information to all who want and need them. By law, priority is given to persons from low-income families.
Those who really believe in what it means to be “pro-LIFE” would not demolish programs like Head Start. Head Start’s mission is to improve the lives of low-income children by providing quality comprehensive child development services that are family focused, including education, health, nutrition and mental health. That mission is accomplished by involving parents in the total operation and administration of the program and supporting the growth of children, families and staff through encouragement, nurturing, education and empowerment.
Do not judge this next statement until you read the rest of this post!
I am proud to state that I am “pro-LIFE” and always will be. That’s what Democrats believe. We do not believe it’s right for any fetus to be condemned prior to birth to a life of poverty with no chance for its parents to pay for basic health care, food, or shelter. We don’t believe it’s right for any fetus to be “saved” in order to endure abuse. We don’t believe it’s compassionate to banish that fetus to a lifetime of being unwanted. We do not believe Jesus would want that child to be a social outcast if he/she has the “wrong” skin color, or religious beliefs, or sexual preference.
We are “pro-LIFE” because we believe all children—all skin colors, all religious beliefs, all sexual preferences, all ethnicities, etc.—should have equal rights in America and that the American Dream should be accessible to them.
Don’t talk to me about “pro-BIRTH” until you, like I have, look into a ten year old’s eyes while she’s fighting for her life in the hospital after being brutally beaten, raped, and left for dead! It’s not a pretty sight. The worst part was later when her parents had to explain to her what she’d also have to endure—more invasion of her privacy as she suffered through pregnancy and STD testing.
Don’t tell me how precious “pro-BIRTH” thinking is until you, like I have, listen to a mother tell about her husband raping her five year old daughter anally. Yes, it’s ugly and disgusting, but it happens.
I don’t want to hear your self-righteous “pro-BIRTH” stance until you, like I have, hear a twelve year old tell you she’s pregnant on the last day of school. Her life changed dramatically from that point forward.
Go ahead and be “pro-BIRTH.” That’s fine, as long as you accompany that position with a commitment to providing that unborn child with the necessities of LIFE: food, health, shelter, and education. Throw in a chance at the American Dream and I’ll be on your side.
Until then, I’m a proud “pro-LIFE, pro-CHOICE” American!
Pro-life is a worthy goal, but life only begins at birth. If you’re truly “pro-LIFE” you would not strip funding for WIC. WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.
If you were truly “pro-LIFE” you would not destroy funding for Title X programs. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services. The Title X program is designed to provide access to contraceptive services, supplies and information to all who want and need them. By law, priority is given to persons from low-income families.
Those who really believe in what it means to be “pro-LIFE” would not demolish programs like Head Start. Head Start’s mission is to improve the lives of low-income children by providing quality comprehensive child development services that are family focused, including education, health, nutrition and mental health. That mission is accomplished by involving parents in the total operation and administration of the program and supporting the growth of children, families and staff through encouragement, nurturing, education and empowerment.
Do not judge this next statement until you read the rest of this post!
I am proud to state that I am “pro-LIFE” and always will be. That’s what Democrats believe. We do not believe it’s right for any fetus to be condemned prior to birth to a life of poverty with no chance for its parents to pay for basic health care, food, or shelter. We don’t believe it’s right for any fetus to be “saved” in order to endure abuse. We don’t believe it’s compassionate to banish that fetus to a lifetime of being unwanted. We do not believe Jesus would want that child to be a social outcast if he/she has the “wrong” skin color, or religious beliefs, or sexual preference.
We are “pro-LIFE” because we believe all children—all skin colors, all religious beliefs, all sexual preferences, all ethnicities, etc.—should have equal rights in America and that the American Dream should be accessible to them.
Don’t talk to me about “pro-BIRTH” until you, like I have, look into a ten year old’s eyes while she’s fighting for her life in the hospital after being brutally beaten, raped, and left for dead! It’s not a pretty sight. The worst part was later when her parents had to explain to her what she’d also have to endure—more invasion of her privacy as she suffered through pregnancy and STD testing.
Don’t tell me how precious “pro-BIRTH” thinking is until you, like I have, listen to a mother tell about her husband raping her five year old daughter anally. Yes, it’s ugly and disgusting, but it happens.
I don’t want to hear your self-righteous “pro-BIRTH” stance until you, like I have, hear a twelve year old tell you she’s pregnant on the last day of school. Her life changed dramatically from that point forward.
Go ahead and be “pro-BIRTH.” That’s fine, as long as you accompany that position with a commitment to providing that unborn child with the necessities of LIFE: food, health, shelter, and education. Throw in a chance at the American Dream and I’ll be on your side.
Until then, I’m a proud “pro-LIFE, pro-CHOICE” American!
WHAT WOULD JESUS CUT?
Living in the heart of the Bible belt, it’s hard not to discuss politics and religion in the same conversation. Many people base their political beliefs from their religious beliefs. The Jesus I know would not vote to eliminate vital resources to “the least of these” while drastically increasing funding for corporations that thrive due to the labor of the very ones about whom Jesus speaks. Allow rich corporations to pay for elections? I don’t think so.
Jesus sought out the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed. He implores us in Matthew 25: 35-40 to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in strangers, clothe those who are naked, visit the sick and those who are imprisoned. He tells us that when we do, we have done so to Him.
Our country has traditionally done just that. From the 1930’s and 1940’s (when most of the legislation was passed that protected the “least of these”), the poor and the middle class pursued the American Dream and we prospered. Our corporations thrived, too, but the rest of us moved upward at about the same pace as the very rich. Times were great. Our ancestors worked hard, bought homes—with televisions, cars, washers and dryers, and all the modern conveniences the corporations we worked for made. The wealthiest Americans made about 200 times more than the bottom 90% of us made, but they thrived and built more and made more. We were all happy. The American Dream was within reach for most of us.
From the early 1930’s until 1980, the top marginal tax rate was never less than 70%. In fact, from 1951 until 1963, the rate was above 90% for the top group. During all that time (over 40 years), the wealthiest Americans made about 200 times more than the bottom 90% of us.
It was not until the mid-1980’s that we stopped gaining ground. That’s when we were told that, by rewarding the very rich and their companies, we would also reap the benefits because it would “trickle down” to us eventually. It didn’t. We didn’t notice it much because we had done well and things stayed pretty much the same for us. The wealthiest became wealthier and, by 2006, were making 976 times what the bottom 90% of us were making.
In 1981, that top tax rate dropped from 70% to 69.125%. In 1982, it dropped again—to 50%, then to 38.5% in 1987, and further yet in 1988 to 28%.
By the mid-1980’s, the difference had rapidly grown to over 400 times more than what the bottom 90% made. It hasn’t been less than 350 times more since, and that didn’t last long!
By 2006, the difference between what the top 0.01% made had escalated to 976 times what 90% of us made.
The rich are getting much, much richer on the laboring backs of the rest of us. They’re getting richer by “buying” Congressional members who push through their agenda to reduce their taxes, eliminate regulations, and expand loopholes. And, now, after getting huge additional tax breaks, they want to take more. This time, though, they’re targeting “the least of these” by promoting the removal of Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, unions, regulations that protect us, health care for women, and so much more.
"I hope we shall . . . crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." --Thomas Jefferson
Jesus sought out the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed. He implores us in Matthew 25: 35-40 to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in strangers, clothe those who are naked, visit the sick and those who are imprisoned. He tells us that when we do, we have done so to Him.
Our country has traditionally done just that. From the 1930’s and 1940’s (when most of the legislation was passed that protected the “least of these”), the poor and the middle class pursued the American Dream and we prospered. Our corporations thrived, too, but the rest of us moved upward at about the same pace as the very rich. Times were great. Our ancestors worked hard, bought homes—with televisions, cars, washers and dryers, and all the modern conveniences the corporations we worked for made. The wealthiest Americans made about 200 times more than the bottom 90% of us made, but they thrived and built more and made more. We were all happy. The American Dream was within reach for most of us.
From the early 1930’s until 1980, the top marginal tax rate was never less than 70%. In fact, from 1951 until 1963, the rate was above 90% for the top group. During all that time (over 40 years), the wealthiest Americans made about 200 times more than the bottom 90% of us.
It was not until the mid-1980’s that we stopped gaining ground. That’s when we were told that, by rewarding the very rich and their companies, we would also reap the benefits because it would “trickle down” to us eventually. It didn’t. We didn’t notice it much because we had done well and things stayed pretty much the same for us. The wealthiest became wealthier and, by 2006, were making 976 times what the bottom 90% of us were making.
In 1981, that top tax rate dropped from 70% to 69.125%. In 1982, it dropped again—to 50%, then to 38.5% in 1987, and further yet in 1988 to 28%.
By the mid-1980’s, the difference had rapidly grown to over 400 times more than what the bottom 90% made. It hasn’t been less than 350 times more since, and that didn’t last long!
By 2006, the difference between what the top 0.01% made had escalated to 976 times what 90% of us made.
The rich are getting much, much richer on the laboring backs of the rest of us. They’re getting richer by “buying” Congressional members who push through their agenda to reduce their taxes, eliminate regulations, and expand loopholes. And, now, after getting huge additional tax breaks, they want to take more. This time, though, they’re targeting “the least of these” by promoting the removal of Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, unions, regulations that protect us, health care for women, and so much more.
"I hope we shall . . . crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." --Thomas Jefferson
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
INFRINGING ON OUR RIGHTS—AGAIN!
I just heard on NPR (I know! I shouldn’t be listening to it.) that by 2014 all cars must be built with rear-view cameras.
Are you as upset as I am about this intrusion on our rights!? Talk about government spying! Now they want to know who or what is behind our cars as we back out of our driveways! If your car’s camera can pick this up, you don’t think satellites can, too?
And, whose business is it who parks behind us? I certainly don’t want anyone knowing who is behind my car at any time!
If there’s a bicycle behind my car in my own driveway, whose business is it if I run over it! Certainly not Big Brother’s! If my child leaves his/her bicycle in the driveway, it deserves to be crushed.
If a child runs behind my car as I’m leaving the Wal Mart, his parents shouldn’t complain if I run over him. They should have been watching him more carefully!
As for dogs and cats—well, we have far too many that are not supervised correctly as it is! If they’re not on leashes, they shouldn’t be close to my house!
This is absolutely going too far!
Are you as upset as I am about this intrusion on our rights!? Talk about government spying! Now they want to know who or what is behind our cars as we back out of our driveways! If your car’s camera can pick this up, you don’t think satellites can, too?
And, whose business is it who parks behind us? I certainly don’t want anyone knowing who is behind my car at any time!
If there’s a bicycle behind my car in my own driveway, whose business is it if I run over it! Certainly not Big Brother’s! If my child leaves his/her bicycle in the driveway, it deserves to be crushed.
If a child runs behind my car as I’m leaving the Wal Mart, his parents shouldn’t complain if I run over him. They should have been watching him more carefully!
As for dogs and cats—well, we have far too many that are not supervised correctly as it is! If they’re not on leashes, they shouldn’t be close to my house!
This is absolutely going too far!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
OUR MORAL DILEMMA
America became great by caring about and for one other. We supported one another while traveling treacherous routes over dangerous seas from far off lands to make our homes in a new country. We immigrated to this land for newfound opportunities. This new country gave our ancestors hope and freedom—freedom from oppression, freedom to govern ourselves, and freedom to work hard and prosper. It wasn’t easy at first but, by helping one another, communities were built. Communities grew, wars were fought, and we claimed independence and formed our own government. It was rocky at first, but our forefathers envisioned a country that would endure and developed a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” When we have focused on that commitment, we thrived—all of us.
Times have been tough before, but we must know history to prevent ourselves from enduring some of its harshest lessons.
Economic debates dominated politics in the 1930’s. Shanty towns (called Hoovervilles) sprang up as a result of the Great Depression, named after a president who felt that relief should be left to the private sector. This was a decade of enormous class conflict. Although some rich people lost money when the stock market crashed, most did not suffer from the unemployment debacle that the poor and middle class endured. Many working class Americans lost their jobs and, correctly, blamed the reckless financial dealings of the upper class.
With unemployment at record highs, reportedly up to 25% of the nation, some of the most ambitious programs ever developed became reality—programs designed to produce relief (government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (of the economy), and reform (through regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation). The Social Security system was designed “to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of federal old-age benefits . . .” The Wagner Act officially became the National Labor Relations Act, which established the rights of workers to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining. The Glass-Steagall Act created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, giving Americans renewed confidence in the bands. The Securities and Exchange Commission was designed to regulate Wall Street. Federal spending provided funds to create the Public Works Administration, thus stimulating the economy. The Tennessee Valley Authority built dams, power stations, controlled floods, and modernized agriculture and home conditions in the poverty-stricken Tennessee Valley. Minimum wage was created under the Fair Labor Standards Act and more than 3.3 million jobs emerged under a second stimulation program of WPA and public works.
The upper classes resented their social inferiors (as they saw the lower classes) even more than ever. They viewed these programs as hand outs, which the rich felt was not their responsibility to provide.
When our families and neighbors suffered in the Great Depression of the 1930’s, though, we supported them. Our country began investing in our infrastructure and our people. Safety nets were woven to protect the most vulnerable of our society from the devastating poverty, unemployment and lack of money to provide education for our children.
Fast forward to the 1940’s and 1950’s, the “good old days” for the Baby Boomer generation. Workers received livable wages, education was more accessible to everyone, poor or rich, infrastructure improvements made our country look prosperous, and the economic factors that enabled the first Great Depression had regulations that prevented it from happening again. Our parents’ generation was freshly home from World War II, many graduating from college after using the G.I. bill, and moving from farms to cities and then to the suburbs. We were taught that we could do anything we wanted to, be anyone we wanted to be. The sky was the limit! If we worked hard, told the truth, made good grades, and ate our vegetables, we could succeed.
In 1936, the top marginal tax rate was 79% for everyone making over $5M. For that top group, it never dropped below 70% for 44 years—the most prosperous years in our history, from 1936 until 1981. During those years, our grandparents and parents worked hard, fought wars, bought homes, and could afford to send their children to college—many for the first time ever. Their generations overcame the Great Depression and they wanted to be sure that we never suffered through anything like it. America was prosperous. Businesses were flourishing, the middle class had secure jobs with pensions and insurance, and the poor had safety nets to help when times were tough.
By 1988, anyone making from $29,750 to infinity was taxed at 28%--the lowest since 1931. Sounds good at first, doesn’t it? During the ensuing two decades, though, corporate taxes rates dropped, tax loopholes abounded, regulations were repealed (or ignored), taxes for the richest of the rich were at an all-time low since the Great Depression, and corporate greed ran rampant. Hoover’s old ideas rebounded and the private sector was sold as the economy’s savior.
The poor and the middle class have been duped before, and they’re trying to do it again. From the late 1930’s until recently, we all thought we could achieve the American Dream. That dream has become a nightmare of massive unemployment, home foreclosures, threats to Social Security and Medicare, pension funds decimated by unscrupulous corporations, intimidation of unions that helped us make livable wages with decent hours and safe workplaces, attacks on public education for our children, and absolutely no plans for investing in our country’s infrastructure or its citizens.
When will we learn from history? When will we again stand up against the rich who disdain us? When will we return to our moral standards? Our country’s most vulnerable citizens deserve the safety nets we put into place long ago. The poor and middle class must be allowed to aspire to latch onto a realistic dream again. Oppression is not what our forefathers wanted for us. They never intended for corporations, with their sham organizations, to be able to buy elections. They never envisioned a country where people who work hard and were loyal to their employers could suddenly find themselves without jobs or homes or savings.
We cannot allow them to divide us. We must stand firm for our futures. We can do it, but not if we allow them to frame their message so that we fight amongst ourselves. Reaganomics didn’t work before and it won’t now. Taking away our safety nets—Social Security, Medicare, affordable health insurance, livable wages, pensions, bargaining rights, unemployment insurance, protection from unsafe work environments, polluted air and water, unsafe food or drugs, banks and other entities that take advantage of us, and regulations that protect consumers will not help us. Those things will help the rich who own corporations make more money without being responsible for the damages they leave behind. We’ll be left unprotected, unemployed, uninsured, and homeless.
Americans have, traditionally, been empathetic toward their less fortunate neighbors and have willingly paid our fair share so that the government would supply a safety net for people who are hurting. That empathy still exists and those of us who have been more blessed are happy to share what little we have left with others. Throughout history, the most generous have been those who have the least. We may not have much left except our empathy and our support. Let’s share it now. Stand tall for those of us who stand to lose the most, which is the majority of us.
"The most effectual means of preventing the perversion of power into tyranny are to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts which history exhibits, that possessed thereby of the experience of other ages and countries, they may be enabled to know ambition under all its shapes, and prompt to exert their natural powers to defeat its purposes." --Thomas Jefferson, 1779.
Our moral dilemma is before us. Will we stand up for the poor and the middle class or will we sit idly by and allow ourselves, our friends and families to return to what our forefathers fled?
Times have been tough before, but we must know history to prevent ourselves from enduring some of its harshest lessons.
Economic debates dominated politics in the 1930’s. Shanty towns (called Hoovervilles) sprang up as a result of the Great Depression, named after a president who felt that relief should be left to the private sector. This was a decade of enormous class conflict. Although some rich people lost money when the stock market crashed, most did not suffer from the unemployment debacle that the poor and middle class endured. Many working class Americans lost their jobs and, correctly, blamed the reckless financial dealings of the upper class.
With unemployment at record highs, reportedly up to 25% of the nation, some of the most ambitious programs ever developed became reality—programs designed to produce relief (government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (of the economy), and reform (through regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation). The Social Security system was designed “to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of federal old-age benefits . . .” The Wagner Act officially became the National Labor Relations Act, which established the rights of workers to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining. The Glass-Steagall Act created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, giving Americans renewed confidence in the bands. The Securities and Exchange Commission was designed to regulate Wall Street. Federal spending provided funds to create the Public Works Administration, thus stimulating the economy. The Tennessee Valley Authority built dams, power stations, controlled floods, and modernized agriculture and home conditions in the poverty-stricken Tennessee Valley. Minimum wage was created under the Fair Labor Standards Act and more than 3.3 million jobs emerged under a second stimulation program of WPA and public works.
The upper classes resented their social inferiors (as they saw the lower classes) even more than ever. They viewed these programs as hand outs, which the rich felt was not their responsibility to provide.
When our families and neighbors suffered in the Great Depression of the 1930’s, though, we supported them. Our country began investing in our infrastructure and our people. Safety nets were woven to protect the most vulnerable of our society from the devastating poverty, unemployment and lack of money to provide education for our children.
Fast forward to the 1940’s and 1950’s, the “good old days” for the Baby Boomer generation. Workers received livable wages, education was more accessible to everyone, poor or rich, infrastructure improvements made our country look prosperous, and the economic factors that enabled the first Great Depression had regulations that prevented it from happening again. Our parents’ generation was freshly home from World War II, many graduating from college after using the G.I. bill, and moving from farms to cities and then to the suburbs. We were taught that we could do anything we wanted to, be anyone we wanted to be. The sky was the limit! If we worked hard, told the truth, made good grades, and ate our vegetables, we could succeed.
In 1936, the top marginal tax rate was 79% for everyone making over $5M. For that top group, it never dropped below 70% for 44 years—the most prosperous years in our history, from 1936 until 1981. During those years, our grandparents and parents worked hard, fought wars, bought homes, and could afford to send their children to college—many for the first time ever. Their generations overcame the Great Depression and they wanted to be sure that we never suffered through anything like it. America was prosperous. Businesses were flourishing, the middle class had secure jobs with pensions and insurance, and the poor had safety nets to help when times were tough.
By 1988, anyone making from $29,750 to infinity was taxed at 28%--the lowest since 1931. Sounds good at first, doesn’t it? During the ensuing two decades, though, corporate taxes rates dropped, tax loopholes abounded, regulations were repealed (or ignored), taxes for the richest of the rich were at an all-time low since the Great Depression, and corporate greed ran rampant. Hoover’s old ideas rebounded and the private sector was sold as the economy’s savior.
The poor and the middle class have been duped before, and they’re trying to do it again. From the late 1930’s until recently, we all thought we could achieve the American Dream. That dream has become a nightmare of massive unemployment, home foreclosures, threats to Social Security and Medicare, pension funds decimated by unscrupulous corporations, intimidation of unions that helped us make livable wages with decent hours and safe workplaces, attacks on public education for our children, and absolutely no plans for investing in our country’s infrastructure or its citizens.
When will we learn from history? When will we again stand up against the rich who disdain us? When will we return to our moral standards? Our country’s most vulnerable citizens deserve the safety nets we put into place long ago. The poor and middle class must be allowed to aspire to latch onto a realistic dream again. Oppression is not what our forefathers wanted for us. They never intended for corporations, with their sham organizations, to be able to buy elections. They never envisioned a country where people who work hard and were loyal to their employers could suddenly find themselves without jobs or homes or savings.
We cannot allow them to divide us. We must stand firm for our futures. We can do it, but not if we allow them to frame their message so that we fight amongst ourselves. Reaganomics didn’t work before and it won’t now. Taking away our safety nets—Social Security, Medicare, affordable health insurance, livable wages, pensions, bargaining rights, unemployment insurance, protection from unsafe work environments, polluted air and water, unsafe food or drugs, banks and other entities that take advantage of us, and regulations that protect consumers will not help us. Those things will help the rich who own corporations make more money without being responsible for the damages they leave behind. We’ll be left unprotected, unemployed, uninsured, and homeless.
Americans have, traditionally, been empathetic toward their less fortunate neighbors and have willingly paid our fair share so that the government would supply a safety net for people who are hurting. That empathy still exists and those of us who have been more blessed are happy to share what little we have left with others. Throughout history, the most generous have been those who have the least. We may not have much left except our empathy and our support. Let’s share it now. Stand tall for those of us who stand to lose the most, which is the majority of us.
"The most effectual means of preventing the perversion of power into tyranny are to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts which history exhibits, that possessed thereby of the experience of other ages and countries, they may be enabled to know ambition under all its shapes, and prompt to exert their natural powers to defeat its purposes." --Thomas Jefferson, 1779.
Our moral dilemma is before us. Will we stand up for the poor and the middle class or will we sit idly by and allow ourselves, our friends and families to return to what our forefathers fled?
Monday, February 21, 2011
DEFENDING OUR "ALAMO OF LIBERTIES"
There is a legend that, in 1836 a few days before the final Mexican assault, William B. Travis gathered all of the Alamo's defenders together. Announcing that reinforcements would not be coming, Travis unsheathed his sword and drew a line in the sand. He then told those who were willing to stay and die with him to cross the line; those who wanted to leave could do so without shame. Most crossed the line, leaving only two men behind. One soldier, Bowie, was confined to a cot with typhoid, but asked to be carried across the line.
What will it take for each of us to draw the proverbial “line in the sand” in our Alamo of Liberties?
Will we draw that line when our Social Security is privatized and we lose all our retirement security in the free market? What about when our child gets sick because we were told that private suppliers would regulate themselves and ensure us of food safety—but it didn’t happen. Will we draw the line then?
Now that the top 1/100 of 1% earn 976 times what the rest of us earn combined, we haven’t draw the line. When will we? Will those few have to earn 1000 times what all the rest of us earn combined? What about 1500 times what we all earn? Will we draw lines then?
Over 50,000 Americans died in Vietnam before we moved but, in the late 1960’s, young people from all over this great nation drew lines in the sand and said, “No more!” Our generation turned out by the thousands to protest an unjust war. It worked! Do we have to lose that many or more of our husbands, sons, brothers and fathers again?
Will we draw the line when our college students sit in classrooms full of young people carrying firearms? Will we draw the line when those same students attend parties with alcohol being served to attendees with handguns? What will it take for us to draw lines in the sand? Legislation is pending now to allow just that.
When those who aren’t Evangelical Right-Wing Protestants are persecuted for not accepting the “correct” views, will we draw that line? Or will we wait until America resembles England in the 1550’s and burning at the stake was common?
Women have a huge stake in drawing lines because of the current political climate that is dramatically pushing us backward. Will our line be drawn when we are denied the right to affordable mammograms, cancer and STD screenings, and birth control? We haven’t, because we’ve allowed Congress to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. What will it take?
Will we draw the line when half of us whose employers don’t pay for health care are denied health insurance again? That’s not enough either because we’re allowing Congress to attempt to repeal Health Care Reform.
Is eliminating incest and drug-inducement from qualifying as rape enough to draw a line in the sand? What about changing the law to no longer call us rape “victims” when the unthinkable occurs and call us “accusers” instead? Will we draw the line then? Both have already been proposed, as has requiring that rape victims prove that they were actually forced.
Today’s Baby Boomers drew lines in the sand by marching and protesting alongside our African American friends as we helped lead the way to integration. What did it take for us to get there then? What will it take now?
Our Alamo of Liberties is being taken away from us, piece by piece. One piece may not hurt enough to draw that line, but more have come and more will come in the future—unless we do something about it. Our friends in Wisconsin have drawn their line and they deserve our support. We must stand together and make our voices heard.
What will it take for each of us to draw the proverbial “line in the sand” in our Alamo of Liberties?
Will we draw that line when our Social Security is privatized and we lose all our retirement security in the free market? What about when our child gets sick because we were told that private suppliers would regulate themselves and ensure us of food safety—but it didn’t happen. Will we draw the line then?
Now that the top 1/100 of 1% earn 976 times what the rest of us earn combined, we haven’t draw the line. When will we? Will those few have to earn 1000 times what all the rest of us earn combined? What about 1500 times what we all earn? Will we draw lines then?
Over 50,000 Americans died in Vietnam before we moved but, in the late 1960’s, young people from all over this great nation drew lines in the sand and said, “No more!” Our generation turned out by the thousands to protest an unjust war. It worked! Do we have to lose that many or more of our husbands, sons, brothers and fathers again?
Will we draw the line when our college students sit in classrooms full of young people carrying firearms? Will we draw the line when those same students attend parties with alcohol being served to attendees with handguns? What will it take for us to draw lines in the sand? Legislation is pending now to allow just that.
When those who aren’t Evangelical Right-Wing Protestants are persecuted for not accepting the “correct” views, will we draw that line? Or will we wait until America resembles England in the 1550’s and burning at the stake was common?
Women have a huge stake in drawing lines because of the current political climate that is dramatically pushing us backward. Will our line be drawn when we are denied the right to affordable mammograms, cancer and STD screenings, and birth control? We haven’t, because we’ve allowed Congress to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. What will it take?
Will we draw the line when half of us whose employers don’t pay for health care are denied health insurance again? That’s not enough either because we’re allowing Congress to attempt to repeal Health Care Reform.
Is eliminating incest and drug-inducement from qualifying as rape enough to draw a line in the sand? What about changing the law to no longer call us rape “victims” when the unthinkable occurs and call us “accusers” instead? Will we draw the line then? Both have already been proposed, as has requiring that rape victims prove that they were actually forced.
Today’s Baby Boomers drew lines in the sand by marching and protesting alongside our African American friends as we helped lead the way to integration. What did it take for us to get there then? What will it take now?
Our Alamo of Liberties is being taken away from us, piece by piece. One piece may not hurt enough to draw that line, but more have come and more will come in the future—unless we do something about it. Our friends in Wisconsin have drawn their line and they deserve our support. We must stand together and make our voices heard.
MIDDLE AMERICA HAS SUFFERED ENOUGH
We’ve lost our jobs, our savings, our homes, and our dignity. What more do they want?
Oh, I forgot. They want to
• demolish our Social Security and Medicare systems,
• raise the age of retirement and make us work longer,
• do away with unemployment assistance,
• limit rape victims’ rights,
• banish education for our preschool children,
• destroy our ability to unite with other workers to negotiate,
• banish affordable health care for women by defunding Planned Parenthood,
• deny insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions,
• eliminate regulations that keep our food, drugs, water, air, and workplaces safe,
• persecute Hispanics, Muslims, African Americans and anyone who doesn't look like or think like we're "supposed to,"
• allow businesses to deny service or employment to certain groups of people,
• increase the ability of multi-billion dollar companies’ to determine elections,
• bulldoze free public education for our children, and
• exile scientific knowledge.
These are only a few of the things they want. They’d really like it if we stopped thinking for ourselves, were uneducated, and accepted paltry wages working for their corporations that make billions of dollars for their executives. Maybe like workers in other parts of the world where they’re already taking their corporations?
We haven’t stopped thinking for ourselves. We’re not uneducated (though our children and grandchildren may be if they have their way), and we won’t accept paltry wages while corporate executives make billions. Therefore, we must stand and be heard.
We believe that we are our brothers’ keepers. We believe in social justice and equality for all people. We believe that in order for our society to prosper that we must have lawmakers who will enact laws that address the record level of income disparity in America.
Oh, I forgot. They want to
• demolish our Social Security and Medicare systems,
• raise the age of retirement and make us work longer,
• do away with unemployment assistance,
• limit rape victims’ rights,
• banish education for our preschool children,
• destroy our ability to unite with other workers to negotiate,
• banish affordable health care for women by defunding Planned Parenthood,
• deny insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions,
• eliminate regulations that keep our food, drugs, water, air, and workplaces safe,
• persecute Hispanics, Muslims, African Americans and anyone who doesn't look like or think like we're "supposed to,"
• allow businesses to deny service or employment to certain groups of people,
• increase the ability of multi-billion dollar companies’ to determine elections,
• bulldoze free public education for our children, and
• exile scientific knowledge.
These are only a few of the things they want. They’d really like it if we stopped thinking for ourselves, were uneducated, and accepted paltry wages working for their corporations that make billions of dollars for their executives. Maybe like workers in other parts of the world where they’re already taking their corporations?
We haven’t stopped thinking for ourselves. We’re not uneducated (though our children and grandchildren may be if they have their way), and we won’t accept paltry wages while corporate executives make billions. Therefore, we must stand and be heard.
We believe that we are our brothers’ keepers. We believe in social justice and equality for all people. We believe that in order for our society to prosper that we must have lawmakers who will enact laws that address the record level of income disparity in America.
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